Jacksonville - The director of Morgan County's animal control laid out his proposals to regulate pit bull ownership. Addressing Jacksonville city leaders, Dr. Jay Hudson recounted a story about two pit bulls attacking his pony.

Hudson wants all pit bulls--full-blooded and mixes--and any dog that has a history of biting humans to be microchipped and photographed. He also wants the dog's owner to have liability insurance.

Hudson brought the issue to the council and said he was prompted to make a request for new regulations after two pit bulls attacked and nearly killed a pony he had on his property in the 1100 block of East Morton Avenue.

He said about 40 percent of all dog bites in the county in the past couple of years have been from pit bulls.

Pit bull advocates, apparently using a faulty BSL cost calculator, suggested that regulating pit bulls would cost the city more than $56,000 a year.

By looking at cities and counties with current BSL, the BSL cost calculator has been shown to be grossly inaccurate.

When Miami-Dade county's pit bull ban came up for a vote after 28 years, a prominent pit bull advocate consulted the BSL calculator and boldly addressed the Miami-Dade legislature saying their pit bull ban was costing county residents over $3,000,000 a year to enforce. A county commissioner turned to the animal services director and asked him to verify the astronomical number the BSL calculator came up with for Miami-Dade expenses. The animal services director "pointed out that $3 million was more than the department's entire budget for enforcement, and that pit bulls accounted for two percent of the enforcement expenses." Miami-Dade residents voted overwhelmingly to keep the ban.

Pawtucket, RI has had a successful pit bull ban for a decade and comparing recent operating expenses to the estimated costs the BSL calculator returns for enforcing a ban there also shows that the BSL calculator is wildly inaccurate and always returns astronomically high dollar amounts.

Pawtucket, RI

Population 2011: 71,153

Median Income $39,628 well below RI median income of $55,975 and the US median income of $52,762.

Supposed cost of just implementing BSL according to BFAS BSL calculator: $112,132

Actual 2011 total animal control operating expenses (with 9 year old ban): $124,920

"The predominant number of dogs that cause our problems are pit bulls, or pit bull crosses," Morgan County Animal Control Director Dr. Jay Hudson said. "They're not all vicious. They're not all bad. Some dogs are excellent pets, but they have the tendency to turn and become very vicious."

The issue will now go to a public safety committee. At that point, members of the public can weigh in. A date for that meeting has not been set.

Despite Illinois' state ban on BSL, the home rule principle does allow communities to enact local BSL. Illinois has a reputation for being one of the strongest home rule states in the nation.

Chicago - The Fire Department says it responded to 6017 South Wood in Englewood, which is an an empty lot, where a man was attacked. There were four pit bulls at the scene, but it is unclear if all four were involved in the attack.

There was blood on the sidewalk leading to a house at 6023 South Wood and there was more blood on the front steps. It is not known if that was from the victim, who was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition or from the dog shot and killed by the officer.

The other three dogs were captured by Animal Care and Control officers.

Michelle D-Ipena
At 10AM my dog & I were charged by a loose pit bull in Horner Park. My dog was on leash, I never take my dog off leash. A woman had been chasing it by the edge of the park on California and Irving. As we got close-it turned to us, ears went back and it crouched to attack situation. I immediately started yelling. Then it charged, no wagging tails but teeth. My dog will escalate being charged by big dogs. My dog is a whippet mix , weighs 40 pounds. Luckily it was young but very untrained. The woman said it was her friend's dog but the dog had no collar & the woman had no leash-she said it got loose from a yard which I don't believe because she had on a coat, hat and boots so she had time to get her coat and hat but not enough time to grab a leash.

I know my dog and she does not like to confronted by a badly behaved dog, this dog would not stop. This went on for at least 7 minutes. A jogger helped, he grabbed the Pit Bull and I ran towards Irving Park. Seconds later I heard him say the dog was loose again and dog ran ahead of us, cut us off and turned to go after us again. I grabbed it this time by the scruff of the neck, thank God I didn't get bit and she got it. I darted across traffic and ran into 7/11, called 911. I watched this woman over and over chase the dog, grab the dog, lose the dog. She seemed high or drunk.

I am sticking to the city streets from now on. At least I can run behind a fence or to a front door. In the park you have no where to get away.

Michelle D-IPENA
Here the rest as Every Block as a limit............"To Pit Bull owners- hey it's cool if you own one, but keep it on a leash and don't get pissed at me if I am yelling at you to get your dog controlled. Don't tell me to "Calm down, my dog is okay." Then put it on a dang leash. Don't put this on me. I have worked in TV news/documentary for decades and I have seen crime scene photos from Pit Bull attacks and deaths. I made a documentary about animal welfare so I know exactly what these dogs are capable of, even the nice ones. I have spent hours in court watching as dog owners be convicted of murder because something went wrong. So even if your dog is nice, it is a Pit Bull and it was bred to kill. I am sorry but the truth is their jaws are one of strongest of the dogs and if it latches on you are dead or seriously hurt. If it decided my dog was being to vocal or snarling and it tries to defend itself, my dog and I are not going to win. So don't get mad at me if I get hysterical that your unleashed Pit Bull and my leashed dog are going mouth to mouth."

UPDATE: The dog was identified as a pit bull Australian shepherd mix and was relinquished by the owner and the dog has been euthanized.
Quincy-"The dog, when I was riding my scooter, it got out, and dragged me, off my scooter, and it started biting me," Blake said.

Billy Phelps and his son Collin happened to be driving past when the attack was happening, and managed to get the dog away from Blake.

"It was just an instinct thing," Billy said. "I didn't even think about what would happen if the dog would have turned on us or anything. Just seeing that little boy laying on the ground, screaming and crying, it was just an instant reaction, just pull over, stop and do something."

"I was happy when he got the dog off me because I didn't want to get bit no more," Blake recalled.

Blake's mom Megan is thankful both Phelps and his son arrived when they did.

"I couldn't imagine if it had been any worse," Megan said. "I don't think a mother should ever have to witness her son, any of her kids in that much fear, I'll never forget it, I'll never forget his face."

Mason Co-The first day on the job, Mason County Animal Control Officer Joe Ragle had to contend with a pit bull that turned on its family. In the first few months on the job Ragle has had to deal with four pit bulls that turned on the family and needed Ragle's help getting it off of the property.

"Ragle said in a report to the County Board that he has not had any incidents in which anybody has been seriously hurt but that possibility is there, as evidenced by the January incident in Bloomington in which a 4-year-old girl was killed by one of her family’s pit bulls. According to Ragle, there are a lot more pit bulls in the county than he realized before he took the job, and he hopes dog owners remain mindful of how powerful the dogs can be."

Tom Loewy of the Galesburg Register-Mail talks to Ryan Maxwell's family on the anniversary of his death. Ryan was mauled by a pit bull one year ago today, and as his family tells Tom, the pain is still great, but they want to turn their pain into motivation to help protect other children from pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.

From the interview:

It’s been a year since a pit bull named Ghost mauled 28-year-old Sarah’s first-born child. She and Ryan’s grandparents, Tom and Tina Mead, still struggle with their memories of the beloved boy and the horror of how he was killed.
“Little things remind me of him every day,” Tina explained. “Sarah and I will see a bunch of kids getting off a school bus. Or we see his friends.
“Seeing other little kids around his age has to be the hardest part. It reminds all three of us, I think, of all he’s missed out on. The things that are supposed to be fun family things just don’t really feel right any more.”
Ryan should have turned 8 years old May 7, 2013. He supposed to be there for Christmas like he always was, up early and bugging grandparents. He missed his beloved little brother Jayden’s birthday party at the end of December.

Tom Mead, Ryan's grandfather, has joined a group called Dax's Friends to help spread the word about dangerous dogs. Daxton Borchardt was killed by a pit bull in Wisconsin just a few days after Ryan was killed.Thank you to the Meads and Tom Loewy for keeping Ryan's memory alive for the community and for helping to educate about the dangers of pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.Three children were killed by pit bulls in Illinois in a span of 10 months, a rate previously unheard of in Illinois.Pit bulls and related dangerous dogs are attacking at an escalating rate all over the country.Read more:Galesburg Register-MailDaxton's FriendsRelated posts:Mar 03, 2013 Galesburg Pit Bulls Kill 7 year old Ryan Maxwell